Job benefits increasing faster than wages

Employers are increasing benefits faster than wages, providing lower raises but making up for it by paying more for health insurance and other benefits.

Job benefits increased 10.8 percent to $1,302 per full-time worker from 2007 to 2011, according to a USA Today analysis, while wages grew $777 over those four years, a 1.4 percent increase. Taxes could be one of the reasons for the shift, since wages are heavily taxed, for both employees and employers, while benefits are not.

Last year, the average compensation was $67,744 per full-time worker — $54,413 in wages and $13,331 in benefits, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis' personal income data. Benefits have grown at 2.5 times the rate of wages in the past decade.